The C2S blog draws on the arts, the social and biological sciences to explore the many meanings of health and "dis-ease." Designed to be a locus where patients, their families and professionals can meet on a level playing field, it is the natural off-shoot of the Cell 2 Soul Online Journal. We encourage the submission of ideas, essays, poems, stories, humor, and timely reviews relating to the humanities and health care.
In this TED talk, Alice Dreger, a historian and medical humanist, discusses a range of topics from intersex individuals, to people with physical deformities, to the insights of the "Founding Fathers" and what more we might have if we had had "Founding Mothers." It's a complex talk, but worth viewing for many of us. 18 minutes.
Sam Richards starts this important piece on empathy with these words: "What is sociology?" And I tell them, "It's the study of the way in which human beings are shaped by things that they don't see." And they say, "So how can I be a sociologist? How can I understand those invisible forces?" And I say, "Empathy. Start with empathy. It all begins with empathy. Take yourself out of your shoes, put yourself into the shoes of another person."
This talk is 18 minutes, and really helps me when I interact with others, be they family, patients, strangers. If you have a few minutes, visit "A Radical Experiment in Empathy." You will be enlightened.